old pig and new pig in the same cage

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flame146

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Hi all... so I have a 3 year old female pig, and 5 months old neutered male pig.
they have been in separate cages for 3 months, now since male is castrated, I decided to put them together in a new bigger cage...

they haven't been fighting for those few months of playing together and all...
and when I putted them together yesterday, they waned to kill each other!
Female was the main bully,... now she is detention in her old small cage, while the little male is in the new "big villa"...

What do you recommend, how do I approach them now?
this morning we putted her in his cage, and the little guy was extremely frightened, so I putted out the female...

any advices? :)

Thank you
 
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Hi! Sadly, not all older sows will accept a neutered boar. We have had some spectacular failures on here over the years even with the best of care and time taken. mallethead

I would leave them apart for a while before you start another round on neutral territory. Here are bonding tips: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38562

If that doesn't work out, perhaps you could think along the lines of getting your boy a more congenial "wife" and have your existing sow living alongside, so she has company she can watch and interact through the bars, but still has her own territory.

Where are you located? Here in Britain, we have a list of recommended high standard and good practice rescues that offer to date single piggies of all ages and genders with suitable rescue piggies of their own under expert supervision at the rescue, so you only come home with a new piggy if there has been bonding success and you do not run the risk of ending up with piggies that don't go together. This way, you may even be able to find a new friend of her liking for your difficult girl without any more headaches for you.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=69053&highlight=sow+dating
 
thanks, for the info, I'll check it out
I'm from Croatia btw.

the thing that really amazes me, they were playing together in neutral terrain - no problems, he even went to her cage, she would feel a bit uncomfortable, but nothing serious, she got used to it...
but sharing a new cage... - kaos
 
Perhaps you give your piggies some days to get over it first until there are no signs of hostility between them anymore when separated and then try again meetings on neutral ground. You have to take it very slowly now. it can be done sometimes, but it takes very careful management and attention at all times to the signals/body language that are exchanged.

Make sure that the new cage is thoroughly cleaned (including all their furniture!) and does not contain any hideys with just one exit (or any hideys at all at first) when you finally put them together after several successful days of meeting on neutral ground; it sounds like your girl suddenly panicked or felt trapped and threatened over something. Things can blow up very quickly in situations like that. It takes experience to notice the first danger signs and separate immediately before they are flying at each other.
You may find this thread here helpful; the aggression behaviour is the same for both genders: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28949

How big is your new cage, by the way? The minimum cage recommendation by the RSPCA here in Britain is 120x60cm for two guinea pigs, but I know that this is not so in all parts of Europe yet.

PS: we would be grateful if you added your country to your details. That makes it easier for us to give you appropriate advice straight away, as we have members from all over the world and things can be very different! You can do so in User CP/edit profile/location. thanks!
 
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I have this cage the "Rabbit 100"
0180003514.jpg

I removed that first floor add-on...

so it's about 100x50 cm

it's pretty huge comparing what they had before,
before I had 2 smaller cages, something like 70x35cm..., but for the female the cage was opened 24/7, so she was out alot...
boar is with me for 3 months, and he has been out under my watch for about 15-60min a day

so you don't recommend that I put them together in that new cage, and see how will it go, when they go crazy, I put the female out, and try the next day the same?
 
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No, you have to take two steps back first and see how they react when they meet outside the cage first!

Your cage is what was considered luxurious back in the eighties... and it is still being sold as an "adequate" cage for guinea pigs and even rabbits in shops and on websites here. mallethead

I use my old one as hospital cage for single ill piggies or as a hay tray for my big group. Your small cage is basically a single hamster cage and not fit for even a single guinea pig, frankly! However, you could connect both cages with a short piece of plastic drain tube if your piggies go together to give them more space.

Have you got ebay or amazon in Croatia? Or can you order from this website here - I haven't found one for Croatia, just for Italy: http://www.zooplus.it/shop/roditori...a_aperto/meerschweinchen/gabbie_criceti/50203

Can you see the difference between a 120cm and a 100 cm cage?
IMG_3833.jpg
 
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fuf! the difference is huge
but on the other hand, since their cage will be opened 24/7... I think I will not have problems with it

I'll take that 2 step back advice and see how will it go, thanks for the info

I'll update this topic about the progress

and yes, we can shop from amazon and others... I'll see maybe I can do something to connect 2 old cages
 
Can you find these wire cube storage grids on amazon or ebay?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...vpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_8xtu2qjayr_b

Many of us use them for our cages because they are a lot cheaper and very versatile - you can easily make a big single cage, divide it if needed or add a second floor.

Here is our members' cage gallery to give you ideas - quite a few have had to cope with a fallen out boar pair. http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53210&page=22

This is my first wire cube two story cage:
IMG_4169_edited-1.jpg


And this is my latest set up (for a lot more guinea pigs obviously), but still using the same grids from 3-4 shoe storage sets:
c1c0472a.jpg


Wishing you the best of luck with your pair! I sincerely hope that you can pull it off! You will find that you have to very much play it by ear and take your cues from the piggies' behaviour. If you put them under pressure, you won't get anywhere!
 
yes, they are really cheap! I'll give it a go with these ones definatly!
thanks again for the info!

about my situation, I puted them outside like you sayd, and for 10minutes they are ok... and than they start to grind theyr teeth, then I separate them...
 
I have a 140 rabbit ferplast cage, but my two guineas have been in it and out in a run since I got them a few month ago, but because the weather tends to be harsh in the winter here is Scotland I dont think that will be an option. Just now the run is now in my dining room so they get plenty of exercise (about 6 hours a day they are in it) I put the cage in the run with a wee ramp and off they go!

My dining room furniture is now in the garage ( but it was only used at Christmas lol)

My advice would be not to waste your cash on pet shop cages and buy the stuff to make a c&c cage, which I am in the process of doing.
But if that won't be an option, the bigger the cage you can get the better! It's not always easy if you don't have the space with regards to c&cs

I hope you get something that is suitable soon.

My pigs were in a ferplast Cavie 100 when I adopted them, And I promise I noticed a massive difference in their behaviour when they had more space. I only got the 140 as a quick option to give them space. In saying that, they seem happy enough in the cage-but I have changed a room in my house to accommodate the run lol

Teeth chattering tends to mean they are annoyed/angry, my two do it occasionally, but they are 6 months old and probably still establishing roles. But a more experienced member here could probably give you more advice and help or confirm what I have said or give other opinions.

Good luck :)

Dawn x
 
so this is the current situation, they are able to hang around more and more, I tried to put them in the same cage, they are ok more than before, but still for a short time... so far, time heals wounds
 
now they are in the same cage for about 2 hours... chilling... a bit grunging at each other from time to time... but they look like they both know that if they are gonna be fighters, they are gonna miss the luxury "room" in that cage!

I am satisfied, thank you guys, you helped me alot!
 
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